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This article is about the brigade in service to Anton Marik. For the lead regiment of the Fusiliers of Oriente, see Oriente Ducal Guard.

The first four regiments of the Ducal Guard were formed in secret by Duke Anton between 3012 and early 3014, presumably from forces loyal to the Duke near the Capellan border. The units
were numbered First through Fourth. [1] Although they were a new formation, all Guard units were considered fanatical in their loyalty to Duke Anton. [2] By May 3014, the Duke had successfully won the loyalty of several other House units, as well as receiving the contract for the famous Wolf's Dragoonsmercenary command from Capellan ChancellorMaximillian Liao. Anton declared himself Captain-General, launching a civil war against his own brother. [1]

A veteran-quality unit comprised of the best of Duke Anton's personal forces, [2] the First Ducal spent the war protecting their master on New Delos. [3]
In November 3014, the First briefly mobilized when loyalist forces jumped into the New Delos system. The attackers proved to be the Aerospace Fighters of the 72nd Heavy Fighter Wing who attempted bombardment of the Duke's headquarters as well as an orbital attack on the Dragoons' Hephaestus Station. The raid did little actual damage and losses to the First Ducal on the ground were light. [4][5]

When Duke Anton ordered the arrests of ColonelJoshua Wolf and the liaison staff, it sealed his fate and that of the First Ducal Guards. The Dragoons assaulted New Delos en masse, destroying everything that stood in their way. Despite their supposed loyalty, elements of the First Guard saw the writing on the wall and commandeered several DropShips while Delta Regiment was assaulting the spaceport, abandoning their comrades and their Duke. The rest of the First Ducal Guard were completely destroyed by the Dragoons along with Duke Anton. [6][7][8]

Of average ability [2] but fanatical in loyalty, [9] the Second Ducal Guard secured Fuentes in the opening days of the rebellion, [10] facing virtually no opposition. [2] They then took a number of defensive rotations, travelling to McKenna, [2]Bernardo and Holt in succession. [5]

In October they joined the 5th Regulan Hussars as Task force Peregrine, with the eventual goal of taking the politically important world of Marik. They secured Abadan, facing resistance only from the Dietrich's Devastators mercenary company, a lone company of 'Mechs that was quickly crushed. Task force Peregrine was completely unprepared to face a counter-attack, however, and when the loyalist Home Guard of the Stewart Dragoons, reinforced by armor regiments, landed on-planet in a major raid, they inflicted light losses on the Guards and destroyed two companies from the Fifth Hussars. Fearing a full-scale counterattack, the Regulan commander ordered a retreat, and the Second Guard returned to Holt. [5][11]

Task force Peregrine was pursued to Holt by the Home Guard and the mercenary Head Hunters, where the Fifth Regulan Hussars were over-run while the Second Ducal Guard took moderate losses. [5][12] The Second Ducal Guard withdrew to Ling. [5][12] The remainder of the Second Ducal Guard remained on Ling until May, when they were rotated to New Delos in preparation for an inevitable loyalist attack on the Duke's headquarters. Instead, they faced Wolf's Dragoons, who attacked in a berserker rage. [7] The Second Ducal Guard was completely destroyed. [6]

The Third Ducal Guard was formed primarily from mercenary soldiers [13] of average quality. [2] At the start of the conflict, the Third was assigned to Task Force Eagle, a group that included the 4th Regulan Hussars and the Dragoons' Beta Regiment, the Special Recon Group,
the Seventh Kommando, Zeta Battalion and supporting mercenaries such as the Bounty Hunter in an assault on the key world of Nova Roma. Opposed only by the 9th Marik Militia and local militia units, the task force deployed the elite Seventh Kommando, who abducted the planetary governor and compelled him to order the planetary militia to surrender. With most of the loyalist forces neutralized, the Ninth Militia was forced to retreat. Nova Roma became the first major rebel victory. There was still a loyalist guerilla presence, however, and the Third Ducal assisted in the hunting down of insurgents. [14] Casualties to the Third were light. [2]

The Third remained on Nova Roma until September, when they traveled to Emris IV along with the balance of Task Force Eagle, although they did not join in the fighting there. [5]

The Fourth Ducal Guard held House Marik loyalist troops with particularly emnity. [16] The Fourth Guard successfully seized Gomeisa in June 3014, during the first wave of the conflict. [10] Facing no opposition and taking no casualties, they moved on to Park Place in July. [2] August and September saw the unit rotated to Zion, while in October they briefly guarded Berenson. [5]

In November, they joined the 3rd Marik Militia under Gerald Marik's command in an assault against the 15th Marik Militia on Berenson. The Fifteenth had been without new supplies for months, as Anton had cut them off from JumpShip transport. Refusing to fight the rebels directly, the Fifteenth engaged in a series of fighting withdrawals, taking serious damage but drawing out the campaign. Meanwhile, the 31st Marik Militia and conventional units arrived to relieve the loyalists, and the rebels were soon forced to retreat back to Berenson. Losses to the Fourth Guard were moderate. [5][17]

In Janary 3015, the Fourth Ducal Guard was attacked on Park Place by the Home Guard, the Head Hunters and the 15th Marik Militia. Hopelessly outnumbered, Gerald Marik and the few survivors were forced to surrender. [6][18]

The Fifth Ducal Guard was formed after Duke Anton's call to revolt, made up of provincial soldiers who had flocked to the banner of rebellion. Forming on New Delos in July 3014, [2] they briefly rotated to Sophie's World[5] and then joined up with the 18th Marik Militia at Drusibacken, and from there attacked New Olympia. They faced opposition from the trainers and cadets of the Allison MechWarrior Institute and the Lloyd Marik-Stanley Aerospace School in the New Greenland mountain range. The Fifth secured the undefended Kanov district while the Marik Militia faced surprisingly determined resistance from the loyalists. After several weeks of fighting, the mercenary 21st Centauri Lancers, an elite unit still loyal to Janos Marik, arrived in orbit to reinforce the loyalists, compelling the rebels to withdraw. The Fifth returned to Drusibacken with light casualties. [5][19]

The Fifth rotated to Sophie's World in December, [5] before travelling to Emris IV. In February 3015, Emris was raided by 2nd Fusiliers of Oriente. Fortunately, along with the Fifth and 18th Marik Militia, Emris was now defended by Wolf's Dragoons' Delta and Epsilon Regiments, and the loyalists retreated with heavy damage. Damage to the Fifth was moderate. [6][12] In April, however, Emris would be attacked again after the Dragoons had moved on. The 6th and 8th Orloff Grenadiers faced only the under-strength Fifth Ducal Guard and 18th Marik Militia. They took very heavy losses before being forced to retreat. [6][20]

The 18th Marik Militia, down to a battalion of forces, and the survivors of the Fifth Ducal Guard retreated to New Delos in May. Soon facing the fury of Wolf's Dragoons, the Fifth were destroyed along with the other rebels. [6][7]

The Sixth were one of three additional units formed by Duke Anton relatively late in the conflict, formed from survivors of other units and new recruits. Originally gathered on New Delos in September 3014, they were rotated to Semenyih in November. [5] The Sixth saw their first real action in January 3015 on Tiber, when they and the 8th Ducal Guard supported an assault by Wolf's Dragoons' Beta Regiment, along with Zeta Battalion, Kerensky's Company and the Fire Support Group, on the Earthwerks Incorporated factory there. The rebels secured the facility, but were soon counter-attacked by the Loyalists' 1st Regulan Hussars and the 1st, 5th, 6th and 8th Orloff Grenadiers. Although the Dragoons successfully defended the factory for a time, the green Ducal Guard troops steadily lost ground against the First and Sixth Orloff. No reinforcements were available, and by the time the rebels and Dragoons ultimately withdrew in February, the Sixth and Eighth Ducal were effectively destroyed. [6][21]

The Seventh were one of three additional units formed by Duke Anton relatively late in the conflict, formed from survivors of other units and new recruits. Originally formed on New Delos in November 3014, they were rotated to Fuentes in December, along with the under-strength Fifth Regulan Hussars. The mercenary Smithson's Chinese Bandits attacked in a heavy raid, and were only repulsed when the Dragoons' Epsilon Regiment intervened. Losses to the Seventh were moderate. [12][5] The Bandits came to Fuentes again in April 3015. This time without the Dragoons support, the Seventh Ducal and Fifth Regulan Hussars were forced to surrender after taking serious losses. [6][22]

Originally formed on New Delos in November 3014, they were rotated to Semenyih in December. [5] The Eighth saw their first real action in January 3015 on Tiber, when they and the Sixth Ducal Guard supported an assault by Wolf's Dragoons' Beta Regiment, along with Zeta Battalion, Kerensky's Company and the Fire Support Group, on the Earthwerks Incorporated factory there. The rebels secured the facility, but were soon counter-attacked by the Loyalists' 1st Regulan Hussars and the 1st, 5th, 6th and 8th Orloff Grenadiers. Although the Dragoons successfully defended the factory for a time, the green Ducal Guard troops steadily lost ground against the First and Sixth Orloff. No reinforcements were available, and by the time the rebels and Dragoons ultimately withdrew in February, the Sixth and Eighth Ducal were effectively destroyed. [6][21]

According to the main text of Historical: Brush Wars, it was elements of the Third Ducal Guards that were destroyed on Park Place. [18] The deployment tables, however, indicate it was instead the Fourth Ducal Guards, [6] and given that the main text claims the Third had already surrendered on Calloway IV, [15] this article accepts that it was the Fourth who fought on Park Place.

Reflecting their status as an ill-trained, newly formed command, the Fifth Guard receives a -1 initiative modifier. For one turn per scenario, they may apply a -1 to-hit modifier on all target numbers, and the following turn apply a +1 modifier to all target numbers. [23]